Hand grip attachment for golf clubs



O. SCHIMANSKY HAND GRIP ATTACHMENT FOR GOLF CLUBS Fi led Feb. 9, 1955 IN V EN TOR.

Own Sclzimwmlq BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent.

2,710,190 HAND GRIP ATTACHMENT FORGOLF-CLUBSv Otto Schimansky, Canton, Ohio Application February. 9, 1953, Serial'No. 335,919 4 Claims. (Cl. 273-165) The invention relates to improvements, in golf clubs and more particularly to a hand grip for attachment-to the handle of a club for properly positioning the hands.-

The improved hand grip may be permanently mounted upon a golf club or may be adapted for detachable connection to the club in properposition thereon.

An object of the invention is to provide a new attachment.for golf clubs whichenables the player to hold the club more firmly and accurately while striking the ball so that he can hit the ball more accurately and with greater driving power.

Another object is to provide, a hand grip attachment for golf clubs which will positively prevent the hands from slipping upon the club.

' A further object is to provide such. anattachment whi h willassure the proper positioning oflthehands,

upon. the club.

A still further object. is, to provide. a; grip. for golf clubs. which will enable, the. player to hold the clubmore firmly so that the headofthe club is always. held correctly in position forv the. stroke, and'so that at the time. of impact with the, ball the head of the club cannot turn sideways and foul the stroke and, drive. the. ball incorrectly, but will keep. its correct position... and communicate the full energy of the. stroke to they ball,

thus securing accurate driving for thelongest possible shot.

Another object is to provide agrip of the character. referred to which provides means whereby the club. may be kept under full control while in the act of hit-, ting the ball, and whereby the player. is enabled to. grasp the handle of the club at. the same locationfor each stroke.

A further object is to provide-such a grip which will prevent rotation of. the club in the hands. whenit is brought back over the shouldersfor thefinal swing thus insuring engagement of the head. ofthe. club-with the ball in proper position tov make. a satisfactory; stroke and.v to prevent slicing.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a golf club attachment includingan annular shoulder. lo cated upon the handle of the club and a. detachable grip. member having a longitudinal channel shaped. to fit snugly around the handle, and an arcuate grooveadapted to receive said annular shoulder.

Another object is to provide such a grip attachment in which annular shoulderhas a radial projection thereon adapted to be received in a radial enlargement in said arcuate groove so as to properly position the grip relative. to the face of the head of the club.

The. above objects together with others whichwillbe "ice club handle, showing the rear side of: the hand grip.

attachment mounted thereon;

Fig. 3 a transverse section through the. club. handle;

and grip attachment, taken as on the line 3+3, Fig. 2,

showing the annular shoulder or ring upon the club. han- Referring now more. particularly to the embodiment of:

the. invention illustrated in the. accompanying drawing, in which similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout, a golf club is indicated generally at 10. havingthe conventional handle 11 and head 12.

Thehand grip attachment to whichthe invention pertains is-indicated generally at 13' and may be formed of plastic, metal, wood .or' other suitable material. This grip attachment has a seat 14 formed at its rear side and extending longitudinally therethroughthe seat being slightly more than semi'circular in cross section, as. best shown in Fig. 3, and slightly taperedso as. to fit snugly upon the tapered. handle 11 of aconventional golf club.

The grip attachment may be permanently, secured in proper position upon the handle of the club by screws, nails, adhesive or other suitable means, although in the;

embodiment of the. invention illustrated, it is shown as.

adapted to be detachably connected to a club.

This grip is adapted not only to properly position the lower hand upon the'handle. of the club, but also to give the thumb and forefinger a. better grip on the handle than would be possible withoutxit, so as to increasethe bearing. which the lower hand has on the club.

For this purpose the front face of the. grip has a. downwardly. and inwardly curved groove 15 therein to receive the thumb T as shown in Fig. 1, beyond which is located. an eye .16 oifset'at one side of the club, near the lower end of the grip, for receiving the end of the index finger as indicated at F in Fig. 1. This permits the other three fingers to be gripped around thehandle of. the. club. in natural position, as indicated at F in Fig. 1.

For the purpose of detachably mountingthe grip upon the handle of a club an annular collar, which may be in the form-ofa split ring 17, is located around the handle of the club ata proper distance from the end thereof in .order to correctly position the grip attachment upon the club handle, as will be described in detail.

This may be accomplished by providing an arcuate groove 18 in the rear side of the grip attachment 13,- communicating with the lower portion of the substantiallysemi-cylindrical seat 14; By locating the ring 17 at the proper point upon the handle of the club it will be seen that when the hand grip is positioned upon the club handle, withthe seal 14 thereof receiving the handle/and the. arcuate groove 18- therein receiving the: ring 17, the'grip will be positioned at the proper distance from the end-ofthe handle.

In order to properly. locate the gripradially-around the handle of the club, with reference to the face of the-head 12 of the. club, the annular shoulder. 17 may. be provided with a radial projection. Where. this annular shoulder is. in the form of a split ring, asshown in the drawing, the out-turned, opposed'ends 19 of the ring, through'which a screw 20. or other fasteningmeans is-located'for clamping the: ring; upon the. club. handle, provides" a. suitable radial projection.

A. radia1ly;disposectrecess .21; isiormed in the-airmen side of the grip attachment 13, communicating with the arcuate groove 18 therein, for the purpose of receiving the radial projection 19 upon the annular shoulder or ring 17, as best shown in Fig. 3, so as to properly position the grip upon the club, relative to the face of the club head 12.

By locating the ring 17 upon the club handle, at the proper distance from the end of the handle, and with the radial projections 19 properly positioned relative to the face of the club head 12, it will be seen that the grip attachment 13 will always be correctly positioned upon the club, since it is only possible to attach the grip to the club in such position that the radial projection 19 of the ring 17 will be received in the radial recess 21 of the groove 18.

This results in proper positioning of the lower hand of the player upon the club handle, relative to the face of the head 12 of the club. It also positions the hand so that the apex of the V, former between the thumb and index finger of the right hand, will point toward the right shoulder.

Between the thumb and palm of the hand, the club handle is grasped with a leverage due to the tapered projection or spur 22 at the upper end of the thumb groove 14, enabling the player to hold the grip more firmly.

This also enables the player to hold the club so that the club and its head will always be held correctly in position for the stroke, and so that at the time of impact with the ball the head of the club cannot turn sideways and drive the ball incorrectly, but instead the head of the club will keep its correct position and communicate the full energy of the stroke to the ball, thus obtaining accurate driving for the longest possible shot.

While a grip attachment for a right-handed player is illustrated and described, it should be understood that the improved grip attachment may be made in rights and lefts to accommodate its use on clubs for either right or lefthanded players.

As above described, the grip attachment may be permanently attached to the handle of a golf club in proper posi tion. In this case one of the grip attachments would be attached to the handle of each of the several clubs used by a player for driving the ball.

However, where the grip attachment is made detachable, as illustrated and described in detail herein, it is only necessary that one grip attachment be provided for a bag of clubs, a ring 17, or equivalent annular shoulder, being permanently attached to each club handle in proper position so that the grip attachment may be selectively mounted upon any club which it is desired to use at the time, and may be quickly and easily removed therefrom and mounted upon another club when desired.

With the use of the improved grip it is not necessary that the club handle be grasped so tightly with the right hand, thus relieving tension on the right hand and preventing slicing.

Although the grip is illustrated and described as primarily for use upon golf clubs, it should be understood that it may be used upon the handles of other clubs or bats, such as tennis rackets, base ball bats and the like.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such words are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiments of the improved construction illustrated and described herein are by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of construction.

Having now described the invention or discovery, the construction, the operation, and use of preferred embodiments thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful constructions, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hand grip attachment for the handle of a golf club, said attachment comprising an integral single member adapted to extend slightly more than half way around the handle of the club and having a substantially semi-cylindrical seat in its rear face adapted to fit upon the handle of the club, an integral spur at the upper end of the attachment disposed outwardly at one side of the club and adapted to be received between the thumb and the palm of a hand grasping the club handle, a thumb receiving groove in the front face of the attachment extending diagonally downwardly therefrom, an integral projection at the lower end of said groove and disposed outwardly at the opposite side of the club, and an eye formed in said projection for receiving the tip of the index finger of said hand.

2. A hand grip attachment for the handle of a golf club, said attachment comprising an integral single member adapted to extend slightly more than half way around the handle of the club and having a substantially semi-cylindrical seat in its rear face adapted to fit upon the handle of the club, an integral spur at the upper end of the attachment disposed outwardly at one side of the club and adapted to be received between the thumb and the palm of a hand grasping the club handle, a thumb receiving groove in the front face of the attachment extending diagonally downwardly therefrom, an integral projection at the lower end of said groove and disposed outwardly at the opposite side of the club, and an eye formed in said projection for receiving the tip of the index finger of said hand, and means for positioning said attachment upon the handle of a golf club.

3. A hand grip attachment for the handle of a golf club, said attachment comprising an integral single member adapted to extend slightly more than half way around the handle of the club and having a substantially semi-cylindrical seat in its rear face adapted to fit upon the handle of the club, there being an arcuate groove in the rear face of said attachment, an integral spur at the upper end of the attachment disposed outwardly at one side of the club and adapted to be received between the thumb and the palm of a hand grasping the club handle, a thumb receiving groove in the front face of the attachment extending diagonally downwardly therefrom, an integral projection at the lower end of said groove and disposed outwardly at the opposite side of the club, and an eye formed in said projection for receiving the tip of the index finger of said hand, a ring adapted to be received in said arcuate groove, and means for attaching said ring around the handle of the club.

4. A hand grip attachment for the handle of a golf club, said attachment comprising an integral single member adapted to extend slightly more than half way around the handle of the club and having a substantially semicylindrical seat in its rear face adapted to fit upon the handle of the club, there being an arcuate groove in the rear face of said attachment having a radial recess therein, an integral spur at the upper end of the attachment disposed outwardly at one side of the club and adapted to be received between the thumb and the palm of a hand grasping the club handle, a thumb receiving groove in the front face of the attachment extending diagonally downwardly, an integral projection at the lower end of said groove and disposed outwardly at the opposite side of the club, and an eye formed in said projection for receiving the tip of the index finger of said hand, a ring adapted to be received in said arcuate groove and having a radial projection thereon adapted to be received in said recess, and means for attaching said ring around the handle of the club.

Morley Oct. 7, 1913 Denman June 1, 1926 

